We went out to dinner last night with a group of people for our roommate’s belated birthday celebration.  There were 8 people total, so a pretty large group.  We went out for dinner and dessert. 

     Interestingly at the dinner place we were not charged a service fee.  However at the dessert place we were charged 20% service fee, as a standard gratuity.  I found this interesting.

      I enjoy travelling to places where you don’t tip.  Much like the dessert place, where the tip was just part of the bill.  However, I wonder if it would work better in the US if everywhere you ate out or used any service, would just include a set service charge that you wouldn’t have to worry about tipping so much?

     If life wouldn’t be less worrisome or stressful?  At dinner the group left about 23% tip, so in all likelihood the dessert place probably got shorted because they set a standard service charge.  But I realize not all people would tip more than 15%.   And many times larger groups will often short the waiter because people do not all tip the same.

     But I noticed our group paid the bill a lot faster when there was a set service fee of 20%.  Everyone just added 20% and tax to their bill and we were off.  When we had to “decide” how much to tip, people took a lot longer calculating the bill. 

    I will admit though that at the dinner restaurant, the service was a lot better than at the dessert place where they knew they were getting a 20% tip even though the service was not very good.  But how can you argue right? 

    I wonder if it’s because Americans view service in terms of tipping/monetary valuation, instead of other countries where it’s a matter of pride.  That even without a larger tip but a standard service charge, people just provide better service because it’s part of a job.

   What have others experienced in terms of service when there is a set charge?  And do you prefer it or not?